Friday, October 8, 2010

Ill never forget, maybe 5 years ago or so, I was having brunch in Toronto or maybe it was Ottawa, with a bunch of abrasive/psychedelic noise artists I REALLY respected at the time and they were trading stories about seeing Nirvana live in the 90s, and the whole time I thought to myself, man...I got into this whole scene to get away from that shit, so disillusioned so fast

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

I contacted Mr. Cabrera to get in touch with the drummer of one of my favorite surf revival bands the Ghastly Ones and ended up with a geeked out interview with the key sculptor of Hellboy 2. ENJOY!

Email 1

Why is it that surf rock and horror imagery go so well together? Is it just that the Universal Monster craze was happening while surf music was starting to catch major waves?

I think mainly the heavy reverb on the guitar gives it a naturally spooky feel . But Surf music did have its heyday in the early sixties when Universal monster movies of the 30's made a big comeback on TV with late night "Creature Features" shows and Famous Monsters Magazine was at the newsstand. I also think "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Munsters theme played a big part as well in fusing a surf music vibe with monster stuff.

Email 2

So where did your love of surf music start? Old Ventures albums? Loving the Monster Mash that much? Thinking Man Or Astroman already had the spaceman thing cornered so why not team up with the coroner?

I guess the initial appeal for me was partially the spookiness of it. When I was a kid the local Creature Features program used "Out of Limits" by The Marketts as the theme song for the show. I also remember hearing "Wipe Out" and "Walk Don't Run" on the radio and being naturally draw to it. Later listening to The Cramps sent me on a search for obscure stuff like "Boss" by The Rumblers and so on. When we started The Ghastly Ones in '96 the point was definitely to combine Surf Music and Horror. Other bands had done a spooky sounding surf song here and there starting with The Ventures and The Marketts, and Frankie Stein and The Ghouls was a fake "studio" group in the mid-sixties. But no one had ever done a bonified all spooky surf band at that point. Man or Astroman had the sci-fi thing covered so we stepped in with the spooky surf.

Email 3

From an East Coast stand point, you guys have been quietly doing your own thing and doing it well. If I'm not mistaken you just released a new "Gears n Ghoul Finks" 7 inch single in October of last year and it has already completely sold out.

Whats next? Repress?

Yeah, we stay on the west coast for the most part, but we did a mini tour a while back of NY, NJ, Boston and Pittsburgh and it went over really well. We would love to tour more but it's quite expensive and Garrett our guitar player and I have really demanding day jobs... we do creature FX for the movies.

As far as our 7inch, it sold out pretty fast. We'll probably do a second pressing in different color vinyl but my hope is to have a full album ready before the end of the fall.

Email 4

FX FOR MONSTER MOVIES! TELL ME MORE :) I work in television as well, but in a less creative capacity. I think if you hit up maxwells in nj, where the mummies always play and choice east coast spots you would have a lot of fun. I some how snoozed on the 7" and I totally loozed.

I can hook you up with a 7 inch, no problem. Just email me your address.

I started out doing creature FX when I was 20. I got my start with Oscar winner Rick Baker
who has done everything from American Werewolf in London to Men in Black. In fact, I'm working on Men in Black 3 at Rick's right now. I've worked on lots of stuff. One of the things you might have seen recently is The Angel of Death in Hellboy 2. I was responsible for creating that at Spectral Motion Inc. I also did the reanimated corpse in the first Hellboy. I hate to go on about my credits but check my IMDB for more.

Email 5

C'mon man, I had to IMDB you for the sake of this interview alone.

And telling me who Rick Baker is, is like telling the mailman postage is 44 cents.

I'm a huge fan of Harryhausen, and non-CGI effects. I actually emailed Harryhausen to take part of this series, and got a response, but he had to decline, but wished me well :)

Hell, when I looked you up on IMDB I texted my friend that you were the key sculptor on Hellboy 2.

I never saw the Wolfman, but I read that Rick Baker took a stance against making the Wolfman's transformation CGI, and for that I have to applaud him.

I'm also a fan of vintage Joe Johnston and his storyboards for Star Wars, his design of Boba Fett and Yoda, if only George Lucas brought him back for the prequel trilogy....

Very cool. You never know. Sometimes I say Rick Baker to someone and they say,"huh?" When to me Rick Baker is God. I'm very fortunate to have had him as my mentor in my early yeras and then to have graduated to being a designer for him.

Email 6

Its funny how many people in bands also work in the film / tv industry, hell if you worked for Stan Winston, you might be in Tool right now

Yeah, Adam worked for Stan and KNB.

Email 7

how tight is the california surf community? are you still tight with the dudes from the bomboras or the lords of altamont?

Dave, our keyboard player was the drummer in The Bomboras and he's been one of my closest friends since '96. I also keep in touch with Jake from the Lords who was also in The Bomboras. He has a vintage music gear store in Burbank called Primitive Music and tours like crazy with The Lords. The scene overall is small and tightly knit. Everyone knows each other and often the same members tend to play in each others bands.

Email 8

Wasn't Dave the drummer in the Bomboras though?

I have been asking a lot of peope I talk to about peer to peer file sharing.
Do you think it affects your band? Do you feel that you fans are so close to the band that they wanna shell out when you release something to support your efforts?

Yeah, that's what I said. He was the drummer in The Bomboras but he plays keyboards for us.

File sharing is a cancer. Everyone does it and there's not a darn thing that can be done about it. What people don't realize is lack of sales kills a band. If you like a band and want them to survive, don't make copies of their CD's for your friends. But we all know it's never going to stop.

Email 9

Any solutions to stopping the piracy problem? Should the music industry come after people who download, or the websites that provide material?
Do internet providers need to block this sorta traffic?
What can be done?

That's the million dollar question... I don't have the answer to that. If I did, I'd be a millionaire!

Email 10

Well, as they say in the biz, thats a wrap thanks so much for responding, and good luck with the Ghastly Ones and MIB 3, I hope that is the one where Will Smith and Nicolas Cage finally team up. If you could toss me a promo photo of yourself or the band I'll run it with the interview. THANKS AGAIN!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Katherine Katz is one of the best singers in heavy music today. Whether it 's with Salome or collaborating with Scott Hull in Agoraphobic Nosebleed or on Pig Destroyer's "Lost Cause", Katz is a focused vocalist who screams from the mind.

Email 1

Katherine, its a real pleasure to have you as part of this interview series. You have an incredibly distinct singing / screaming style, but honestly, how did you figure out you could do it? I mean do you ever feel like you are just shredding your vocal chords?

Thanks! You can call me Kat. I appreciate you asking me to be a part of it.

I started doing screaming/gutteral vocals when I was fifteen. I was friends with some kids who were in a local death metal band and they invited me on the mic. What was for fun turned into a deep interest that I wanted to pursue and have ever since. For a brief period of time, I didn't have a band to work with. I developed my vocals on my own, screaming to my favorite bands in my room, until I found people to jam with. I'm sure I drove my mom crazy. For the first few years, my throat got sore occasionally. I found that if you sing from your belly there isn't much impact on your throat. Now, it's rare that I feel like I'm doing any damage at all. The only time it happens is when I'm either a little sick or towards the end of a tour.

Email 2

In the early days when you were trying to perfect things and just screaming in your room, did your mom ever try to tell you this was not very ladylike? That boys will not like a woman who is screaming their head off? Or was she cool with it in theory, and just didn't wanna hear you yellin' all day?

My mom would have never told me I couldn't do something because it wasn't feminine. I was always encouraged to do whatever I was passionate about, regardless of how society considered it. She knows how much I love singing metal, so she's supportive of me doing it. Just today, I was talking with her about Salome because I'm busy working on lyric arrangements for our new album. She said, " I can understand why you like doing it. It must feel wonderful to sing the way you do. So expressive!". The only reason me screaming in the house drove her crazy was because...well, I was screaming in the house. Haha.

Email 3

I found out about you and Salome through a love of Pig Destroyer. The first song I heard you on was "Lost Cause" from Terrifyer. How was been working with Scott Hull in Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed been? Are fans of Nosebleed crossing over to Salome and vice versa?

I feel very appreciative to be working with Scott. He's an awesome guy and an incredible musician. I've had some of my best recording experiences working with him at his studio. It's a relaxed and positive atmosphere. I'm able to take my time and experiment with different vocal styles. Scott is very encouraging and always has great suggestions/feedback. ANb is more well-known than Salome, so there are more ANb fans checking out Salome, then vice versa. It's definitely been helpful to have the additional press, but I think Salome has put in a lot of hard work for the opportunities we've achieved and has been focused on building on our own successes

Email 4

How did you actually meet or get in touch with him? Had he done recordings for Salome as well? How much freedom do you have recording for ANb? Do you come up with your own lyrics or is collaborative?

Scott was given a demo of mine by JR, who I met when he was still in Hissing Choir. Scott liked my vocals and asked if I’d do guest vocals on Lost Cause. After recording, Scott asked me if I’d be interested in working with ANb, which I thought would be awesome. It took a few years to culminate, but when he was finally set to record for the split with CROM, Scott had me come in. He hasn't recorded Salome. I think it would be great to have him record something in the future. Scott and Jay encourage me to write lyrics. Traditionally, Jay writes the majority of the lyric composition. Rich and I wrote for a few songs on the ANb full length, Agorapocalypse.

Email 5

That must have been a great feeling, to have caught the eye of such an awesome and intense vocalist. You both have such brutal tone of voice.

Does it help to be angry and enraged when you perform? Do you think of yourself as an angry person and this a great non-violent outlet? Or is screaming like crazy just a lot of fun?

It depends on which band I'm singing for. When I'm singing for ANb, I do evoke anger, disgust, guilt, etc. That's what's appropriate for the music. When I play with Salome, it's a different experience. I perform best when I'm feeling centered. The music has a meditative qualitiy to it and it displays a range of emotions. No, I'm not an angry person at all. I'm easy going the majority of the time. When I'm not playing music, I practice yoga and massage therapy. There is no doubt that singing heavy metal is a great outlet, but I don't think it always has to be about expressing anger, but about expressing a scope of emotions and experiences.

Email 6

Being in the metal scene and having people know you are into massage therapy how many terrible happy ending jokes have you gotten?

Also whats up with Virginia? Is there a sick metal scene there? I mean you have Salome, Pig Destroyer, Robotic Empire Records, is it a cool climate for extreme music?

Haha. Nah dude, you're the first.

Currently, there are some great metal bands in the DC area like Pig Destroyer (as you listed), Magrudergrind, Drugs of Faith, Three Faces of Eve, and many others. We've also been lucky to have born Pentagram, and pretty much every band Wino has ever been a part of such as The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, The Hidden Hand...

Email 7

Do you feel that you are treated any differently then male band members in Salome? Is the metal scene at all sexist?

Yeah, definitely. Unfortunately, there aren't many women involved in metal, so we are seen as a novelty. Over the last few years, I've seen more and more women become involved which is really awesome. What I find strange are people who seem generally open minded, but discriminate against women in the metal scene. It's definitely hard to gain any kind of footing in this genre. Sometimes, it seems like people want you to fail the moment you get on stage. If you are a good vocalist, you're only good for a woman. For however long you're involved in metal, you will be acknowledged as a female vocalist, instead of a vocalist. If you're really good, you will be known as one of the best female vocalists in metal. In which, maybe there are twenty or so well known women who do these kinds of vocals, so it's not that great of a compliment. If you dress too feminine, if you look too sexy, if you have anything besides dark hair, you will most likely be seen as a gimmick. If you behave more on the masculine side, you will be seen as a fake, trying too hard. Almost every interview you do, almost every review you receive, every show you play, you will be discriminated against in some form. God forbid you're not attractive, or highly attractive. Your appearance will be mentioned repeatedly. The media is partially, if not largely responsible for perpetuating this discrimination. Even questions like this that inquire about gender instead of the band create division.

Email 8

Yeah, promoting Salome or Agoraphobic Nosebleed as having a female singer is this weird two way street where like you wanna let people know thats whats up and its amazing, but you don't want them to get hung up on the issue of gender either. i have definitely mentioned to people, oh ANb has this awesome new singer, they will be cool i'll check that, then i'll say, yeah she is in another band Salome, and then they will be like oh, i can't really get into female vocals, not really into kittie. so stupid. I wonder what will take to get more women involved in the scene, but thats a whole other conversation.

I also can see how the gender issue leads to people focusing on a band member and not the cohesive unit.

So you are currnetly recording with Salome? Whats coming this summer and fall? Any awesome tours?

Salome is in the writing process. We have one more song to write before we start recording for our full length. Profound Lore Records (Cobolt, Coffinworm, Yob) will be releasing it on CD this fall. Vendetta Records (Crowskin, Omega Massif, Black Shape Of Nexus) will be releasing it on vinyl. We have a tour coming up, July 13-17 with Landmine Marathon. We'll be hitting NY, NJ, PA, and MD. We'll be playing an additional show in DC on July19th. We post news, shows, etc. on www.myspace.com/salomedoom. Agoraphobic Nosebleed will also soon be in the studio to record vocals for a split with Despise You. Relapse Records will probably be releasing it this fall.

Email 9

You mention having only 1 more song to write, when you are working towards a new album, how do you know when to stop or that only one song is left? Is it just a matter of saying all that's on the bands mind at the moment, or do you have a general idea of what sort of direction you will work towards for a given album or release?

For this upcoming album everything is well thought out. We came up with everything from the song ideas to the packaging a long time ago. We outlined how many songs should be on it, what kind of packaging we were interested in, etc. We put a lot of time and effort into every aspect of the creative process. It's really been a lot of fun and I'm excited for the final result.

Email 10

Awesome! Well thanks again for taking the time for this interview, it was a real pleasure to speak with one of the best voices in music today. If you could toss me a photo to run with the interview that would be fantastic. Best of luck in all of your future endeavors!